Virginia Tech coach James Franklin is trying to make one of the strangest coaching hires in recent college football history. He wants to bring in Brent Pry as his defensive coordinator. Pry was Virginia Tech’s head coach until he got fired after an 0-3 start to the 2025 season.
This move is extremely unusual because coaches rarely get fired from a program and then come back to the same school in a different role the next season. According to CBS Sports, Franklin is actively working to make this happen.
Franklin replaced Pry as Virginia Tech’s head coach, which makes this situation even more surprising. It’s the kind of twist that most fans wouldn’t expect to see. The two coaches have a strong connection that goes back many years. Pry worked as an assistant under Franklin for over ten years at both Vanderbilt and Penn State. Franklin knows exactly what Pry can do as a coordinator, and their shared history seems to matter more than Pry’s recent struggles as a head coach.
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Franklin and Pry’s long history makes this unusual move possible
Pry didn’t do well running the whole program, but he’s known as an excellent defensive coordinator. His defenses at Penn State were always one of the team’s biggest strengths and played with discipline and toughness. When it comes to coaching defense, Pry has proven he can do the job at a high level.
Bringing back the coach who just got fired will likely create mixed feelings among Virginia Tech fans. Many just went through a painful head coaching change, and now they might see Pry back on the sidelines again. That’s completely understandable given what happened. Franklin left Penn State after a successful run, and fans can learn more about his massive buyout from Penn State.
However, Franklin has already built trust with the Virginia Tech community in just a few weeks on the job. He made a huge impact on the recruiting trail right away. Even without a full coaching staff in place, Franklin turned Virginia Tech’s recruiting class from one of the worst in the ACC to the 22nd best in the country. He also secured a top-five class within the conference.
Franklin flipped nearly every Penn State recruit and brought in other strong players on signing day. This gave the Hokies their best recruiting class in more than ten years. When a coach delivers results like that immediately, it gives fans reasons to trust his decisions, even controversial ones like bringing back Pry. For those interested in Penn State’s coaching situation and future, the transition has been closely watched.
If Pry returns as defensive coordinator, his second time at Virginia Tech should go better than his first. He’ll focus only on defense while Franklin handles running the entire program. This setup worked well when they worked together before, and Franklin clearly trusts Pry’s ability to build a strong defense.
Published: Dec 7, 2025 02:30 pm